


Little Things

by ApostateRevolutionary



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, FWP, Fluff, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-29
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-26 09:36:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3845992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApostateRevolutionary/pseuds/ApostateRevolutionary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anders has a request for Hawke, and it’s something he’s actually embarrassed about. Hawke is very confused, until Anders reveals what’s going on. Takes place between Acts 2 and 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by tumblr user ominousdeer.

Hawke sighed, working her way through the letters on her desk. Maker’s breath, there were just so many of them. It seemed everyone and their cat required the Champion’s presence at some event or another. She had just picked up the quill to begin penning refusals when Anders’ approach broke her concentration, and she couldn’t help but look up.

Standing awkwardly in the doorway, both arms behind his back, the apostate had a look on his face she wasn’t used to seeing. He looked nervous, or perhaps embarrassed. Sheepish? That might have been the word for it.

“Are you busy?” He asked when he saw her glance up, the words falling out a bit too quickly.

“Not with anything that matters. Just refusing more invitations to noble parties.” Hawke couldn’t help the fatigue that crept into her voice.

“Ah. Good.” Anders replied, his eyes shifting to the side.

When he didn’t say anything more, Hawke had to wonder what was going on. He was acting strange, and it would’ve worried her, but there was a sort of innocence in his discomfort. She’d have compared it to a child confessing a crush, but Anders had been far less concerned about declaring his love for her in the beginning. It was beyond unusual to see him so flustered.

As the silence dragged on, she had to speak. “Any particular reason you asked?”

“Oh, I uh… I was just wondering if… I mean, I’d like you to…” The blonde stammered, looking at his feet now.

The rogue pushed her chair back a bit now, looking at him with confusion. Anders was never this awkward. She also noted that his hands were still behind his back.

“Anders, is something wrong? You can ask me anything, you know that.” She said, trying to sound as open as possible.

“N-no, nothing’s wrong, I just… Could you do something for me?” The mage asked, stepping forward a bit.

His movements were irregular due to whatever he was hiding behind his back, but at least he’d come closer, and his gaze was on her again. That was a good sign.

“Of course. Anything you ask.” Hawke answered, giving him an encouraging smile.

Anders opened his mouth to speak, but promptly shut it again, his gaze travelling back down to his feet. And – wait, was he _blushing?_ Hawke had rarely seen the man blush, even in all the years she'd known him.

The rogue couldn’t stop her eyebrows from rising slightly. “Anders?”

The mage looked up again, and he slowly moved his hands out from behind his back, extending one arm towards her. In his hand was a hairbrush. He finally smiled, though it was still a bit sheepish, and she couldn’t help but return it, hiding the fact that she’d noticed the flush on his cheeks. She might have laughed if she hadn’t known how much this meant to him. She’d done it before, just because it bothered her how knotted his hair was, and he had absolutely loved it. It may have seemed like such a small thing, but it had made him so happy, perhaps just because of the intimacy involved. He’d never really had anyone to do little things like this for him before, so he always seemed to cherish them more than most would. How could she possibly say no now that he was comfortable enough to almost ask for this?

Hawke then took the brush from his hand, and pulled her chair out more until she could turn it, gesturing for him to sit in front of her. He complied immediately, and she watched as the prior nervousness melted out of him. Gently, she removed the tie from his hair, using her fingers to flatten it as much as she could.

She moved the brush through his hair carefully, not wanting to hurt him as she guided it through the tangles. It always amazed her how soft his hair was despite how poorly he took care of himself. It had improved since he’d starting spending more time at the estate, but whenever he was left to his own devices, he never ended up eating enough or stopping before he worked himself to pure exhaustion.

But Anders’ hair showed no signs of damage from it. It was still the colour of gold, shiny and silken. And as Hawke ran the brush through it, a bit harder now that the knots were out, she leaned forward briefly to see he’d closed his eyes, pure serenity gracing his features. She smiled softly to herself. It was such a rare treat to see him actually relaxed.

After a time, she put the brush down, stopping his probable look of disappointment by burying her fingers in the locks. She then started combing through the strands, lightly massaging his scalp as she went. Anders let out a near-inaudible groan, leaning his head back into her lap. Her eyes were on his face now as she continued, enjoying how positively blissful he looked.

Hawke didn’t stop until she realized that Anders was very much in danger of falling asleep on the floor, leaning against her legs. As much as she wanted her dear apostate to get some rest for once, this was not the place. Not only would that not be very comfortable for him, she really didn’t want to be trapped in this chair for the entire night.

Stopping her gentle scratching, but not removing her fingertips from his head, she leaned down to plant a light kiss on his forehead. Amber eyes fluttered open, almost looking a little glazed.

“I think the bed might be a better place for you to fall asleep than on the floor of the study.” The rogue said lightly.

The mage chuckled at that, his lips twisting into that familiar smirk. “You’re probably right, love. Care to join me?”

Hawke couldn’t help but smirk as well. “Of course. And don’t worry, we can certainly continue this there.”

His smirk softened to a smile, and he leaned forward, stopping to stretch his back slightly. The mage stood then, and Hawke followed his lead towards her bedroom. She’d noticed long ago that Anders cherished the little things in their relationship more than anything else. The little kisses in the morning, the hugs when one of them came home in the evening, twining his fingers with hers as they drifted into sleep at night. Words were always nice, but it was these small, seemingly unimportant gestures that meant the most to him.

Because, as it turns out, all it can take is some time and a hairbrush to say ‘I love you’.


End file.
